Team Gallant
by Hideo Fujioka
Summary: After a near impossible mission is failed, the glassing of the Outer Colony Gliese pushes back UNSC forces even further. Will ODST: Zulu Squad combined with the strength of Team Gallant be enough to prevent the destruction of Inner Colony: Chev?


Chapter 1

Dan burst through the hospital doors. Taking a quick glance around him, he saw several doctors and nurses hurrying through the hallways to get to their patients. "Where the hell are they?" he murmured to himself. Spotting the front desk, he dashed towards it. Slamming his hands on the desk, Dan started to speak in a loud voice."Which room are Christopher Padron and Kristie Warden located in?" Dropping several papers in response, the nurse at the desk stuttered, "M-Mr. Padron and Ms. Warden were relocated to ER #43..."

Before the nurse finished her sentence, Dan had already begun sprinting towards the room.

Spotting the number "43" and a door next to it, Dan ran neck-break speed towards it. As Dan pushed the door aside, it collided with the wall behind it, almost breaking at the hinges. Entering the room, Dan saw Chris, unconscious on a hospital bed. Dan glanced over at the bed next to it only to find it empty. Looking around the room again he was puzzled to find nothing else save several monitors and a foldable chair in the corner.

Hoping to find answers, Dan sprinted out of the ER room and into the hallway, Dan searched frantically for an informant, nurse, doctor, anyone who could tell him where Kristie was. Catching the tail end of what appeared to be a doctor's coat curling around the hallway's corner, Dan sprinted around it and snatched the guy's shoulder, jerking him around and stopping him in his tracks.

Staring at the man square in the eye, Dan said, "Where is Kristie Warden? She's supposed to be in room #43!"

Startled, the man tried to regain his breath. After several more shakes and yells from Dan, the man slowly replied "I think she was announced dead two hours ago from severe blood loss; I'm sure the doctors did all they could to save her..."

Interrupting him before he could say more, Dan screamed in his new-found fury. "DAMNIT!" blinded by anger, the marine punched a hole in the hallway's wall.

Feeling mixed emotions of both pure rage and frustration, Dan slumped on to the floor.

"Sir, are you alright?" the man said as he looked at Dan with concern. Giving him no response, Dan simply sat there phased out. Glancing down at his data-pad, the man turned to leave. "I'm sorry for your loss, but I really have to get going….. Tell you what, if there is anything I can do, just come tell me. I'll be down this hall, second door to the left, room #56. I'm waiting for someone to show, so I'll be there for awhile."

As the man walked away, Dan, overwhelmed by emotion, picked himself off the floor. "Damn it... those Covenant bastards..."

Dan began muttered to himself as he started the walk toward Chris' room.

Reaching out to open the hospital room's door, Dan noticed that it was already propped open. As he walked in, Dan noticed that Chris was now awake and a nurse was attending to him.

"Excuse me miss, mind if I have a moment with my friend here?" Dan said as he started to walk towards Chris' bed.

Nodding in silent reply, the nurse finished her task and exited the room, closing the door slowly behind her.

Taking a glance at his visitor, a wide grin spread across Chris' face as he saw the familiar face. "Dan! Is that you? Is that really you?"

Grabbing hold of Dan's hand and shaking it, Chris cheerfully greeted his friend. "Where have you been? I've been waiting in this hospital for well over a week! Oh, and how is Sev, oh and Gerard? I've been trapped here forever Dan, I didn't survive our mission just to die from boredom you know!" In somber reply, Dan replied. "Yeah, I'm sure you didn't."

"That mission though… I never thought that we would get out of there alive! Those damn Covenant almost killed us! Last thing I wanted to do was to see our names added to the UNSC KIA list."

Noticing Dan's somber mood, Chris quickly tried to change the subject.

"Hey by the way, where's Kristie? She was here earlier. " Chris said as he glanced at her empty bed. Hearing nothing from Dan in reply, Chris turned back around to face his friend. Noticing what seemed to be tears pooling at the edge of Dan's eyes, Chris started to feel concerned for him. "Hey man, I know we almost died down there, but we all survived, and we're all here. Things could've been a lot worse."

Taking a moment to breath, Dan looked at the foldable chair in the corner and pulled it up next to Chris' bed. After sitting down, Dan took another moment before he broke the grim news to Chris.

"She's dead Chris. She's been dead for two hours."

"Hey, that's not very funny. Seriously man, where's Kristie?" Staring at Dan, Chris found no hint of sarcasm. After several seconds of no response, Chris started to stammer.

"Y-you're kidding right? Joking around like that isn't very funny ya know." Looking at Dan once again, Chris hoped to find any trace at all that he was just kidding. "Please tell me you're not serious Dan! There is no sense at all in trying to scare me!" As Chris looked into Dan's somber face, he knew that he was serious. There was no question about it, Kristie Warden was dead.

Suddenly going into a panic, Chris started to scream. "She can't be dead! That's impossible! She was alive just a couple of hours ago! A couple of plasma bolts to the gut couldn't have taken down a woman like her!" Placing a hand on Chris' shoulder before he could say more, Dan repeated those bitter words. "She's dead Chris… She's dead. The damn Covenant killed her, just another UNSC casualty in this forsaken war."

Chris just couldn't accept it. "NO! She's not dead! She can't be! That's just something that wouldn't happen in a million years! We've survived Banshee patrols, destroyed hundreds of Covenant forces at a time, dodged Wraith mortars, even survived an Insurrectionist suicide bombing. There is NO way she can be dead!"

"Chris, denying her death isn't going to make things any better than what they are now. What we need to do now is make sure she didn't die for a lost cause."

"Damn it Dan! I've lost too much in this war, and I am not going to lose anything else! My home planet is glassed, and everything that I loved is gone with it! My Ma, Pap, sister, and everything else! And now you're telling me that Kristie is gone too!"

Placing a hand on Chris' shoulder, Dan tried to quiet him down. "We've all lost something in this war Chris; some people have lost more than others. There are people who are less fortunate than you and lose even more, some even their own lives. And unless you want to stay in this hospital and pity yourself, in a week we're going back onto the field. If you really care for Kristie, then get off your sorry behind and avenge her death by killing a couple of the Covenant bastards!"

After several moment of silence, Dan spoke, "So what'll it be Chris? Sit and mope, or run and shoot?" Before Dan could say more, a nurse opened the room's door. Seeing her, Chris limped over and whispered something in her ear. Looking puzzled but then nodding in compliance, she dashed out the door. Puzzled, Dan asked, "What did you say to her?" Struggling to take his bag out of the hospital closet, Chris just turned around and said, "We're going NOW."

Startled but pleased by his teammate's newfound energy, Dan placed a hand on Chris' shoulder. "Hold on now, you're not fit for combat just yet. Rest a bit, you can barely walk, little less run around on the battlefield." Just as Dan finished his sentence, his phone rang. Taking the phone out of his back-pocket, Dan answered the caller.

"Hello, this is Sergeant Stark, what can I do for ya?"

"Sergeant Daniel Stark, this is Lieutenant George. We have just recently received word that your teammate, Kristie Warden, has been KIA. We have sent a replacement ahead of time to your location to take her place. We are sending you his whereabouts in an e-message. You will receive it in approximately 15 seconds after this call. That is all Sergeant."

"Wait, what…."

Before Dan could finish his question, the caller hung up. He just got a call from one of the higher ranking officers in the UNSC, but why was he the one to contact him, and how did they get news of his teammate's death so fast?

"What was it Dan? Who called?"

"It was a notification from some guy called Lieutenant George, apparently they know that Kristie died and have sent someone to replace her."

"Then where is he? Is he here?"

Before Dan could reply, his phone vibrated indicating a message. As Dan finished reading the message, his face flushed red with embarrassment.

Taking the phone from the Sergeant's hands, Chris took a look at the message himself.

'Kristie Warden's replacement is Private Benjamin Greene, he was sent ahead of time to Saint Andrew's Hospital. He will be located on the same floor as Corporal Christopher Padron, room #56.'


End file.
